Getting it Together

The Mets have lacked chemistry, undoubtedly. The starting pitching, with the exception of Santana, has been shaky at best. They still have not come together on offense. These things will take some time, I hope. John Maine struggled again last night, allowing 5 runs over 5 2/3 innings, but seemed to make some progress in this start compared to his previous starts. The offense was nonexistent, again failing to put together any significant rallies and struggling with RISP.

On a side note, I would like to ask why so many fans have such doubt in Oliver Perez but an inexplicable faith in John Maine. Forget Perez' inconsistency, over the last two seasons with the Mets the two pitchers have almost identical stats. Perez has struck out more, and is undeniably a big game pitcher. He has the talent to be one of the best pitchers in baseball if he can pull himself together. Both pitchers have gotten off to shaky starts this year, yet most fans seem to be thinking "Maine will pull it together, but Perez, he'll always be inconsistent." Perez has shown more signs of life than Maine this season and in the past. I would take Perez over Maine any day. 

 The team has dropped three straight and turn the ball over today to Livan Hernandez (1-0, 4.63 ERA) who will be facing the Cardinals' Kyle Lohse (2-0, 2.57 ERA). Hernandez has looked solid thus far in the season, winning his first start and pitching well through four innings in his second before allowing a three run homer to Milwaukee's Ryan Braun. Hernandez will always give the Mets a chance to win the game, and it seems that when he is pitching the offense will have to step up and score 5 or 6 runs, really not too much to ask for the Mets highly paid hitters. 

Jerry Manuel will also go to a new lineup today to try and mix things up: 

SS Jose Reyes

2B Alex Cora

CF Carlos Beltran

1B Carlos Delgado

3B David Wright

LF Gary Sheffield

RF Ryan Church

C Omir Santos

P Livan Hernandez

Well, first of all, thank you Jerry for putting in Omir. Why has Castro been playing (and not hitting) after Santos proved himself offensively and defensively last weekend? If Santos can be consistent offensively, the Mets have themselves a catcher for a change. Another move I like is Beltran hitting third. David Wright has been the face of the Mets failures with RISP and needed to be moved out of that spot. I think by the end of the year if Wright can put some power together, he will be hitting fourth and Delgado fifth. Also, I like that Jerry is giving Shef a chance to prove himself, although he has got to pick up a few more hits to justify this playing time. Today's game will be a good indicator if he deserves this much playing time. Finally, Cora is replacing the red-hot Castillo and is hitting second. Why can't Castillo hit second, Jerry? 

This lineup looks much, much better. Replace Cora with Castillo and Shef with Murph, and I think the Mets have themselves a better opportunity to put up some runs. We will see how it goes today. 

Let's go Mets!